Section 25 - From The Hip Rsd 2021

Factory Benelux presents a limited edition triple vinyl remaster of From The Hip, the pioneering 1984 electro album by cult Factory Records group Section 25, produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order.

Pressed on orange, blue and silver vinyl, the set is limited to 800 copies only and housed in a deluxe trifold sleeve reproducing the original iconic cover art by Trevor Key and Peter Saville, which features the cryptic colour-coding favoured by Saville at that time.

Recorded at Rockfield Studio during the summer of 1983, From The Hip was the band’s third album for Factory, and the first to pursue a more accessible musical direction, thanks largely to new members Jenny Cassidy and Angela Flowers joining Larry and Vin Cassidy and Lee Shallcross. It marks the only time that Bernard Sumner agreed to produce an entire album for another artist, falling between the classic New Order albums Power Corruption & Lies and Low-Life.

Adopting state of the art Roland electronics, on From the Hip Section 25 graduated from barbed post-punk to smooth electronic pop, much of which prefigured techno and house styles, and spawned an enduring club/dance hit in the blistering Megamix version of Looking From A Hilltop, remixed for 12” by Sumner and Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio.

The original 1984 album appears on Disc 1, while Disc 2 features the Megamix version of Hilltop along with a newer 2010 remix by Stephen Morris (also of New Order), and the powerful Sumner/Johnson reboot of early Section classic Dirty Disco.

Additional bonus tracks on Discs 2 and 3 include non-album electro singles Beating Heart, Crazy Wisdom, Sakura and Bad News Week, as well as a 1984 BBC radio session and rare track Slinky, performed just once in 1985. Beating Heart is heard here in its 12” form, featuring remarkable Roland TB303 ‘squiggle’ effects which predate acid house by at least two years.

"This massively influential album from 1984 saw the Cassidy brothers work with producer Bernard Sumner to incorporate the electro beats and synth atmospheres of New Order into Section 25's doomy post-punk world view. Packaging for the new vinyl edition is top notch" (Mojo)

“Sampled by Orbital and The Shamen, From the Hip's trance states and 303 drum machines now sound like an accidental prototype for techno" (The Guardian)

"From The Hip saw Section 25 emerge as a new band with a new mandate, as half the album's songs prominently featured electro-funk drum machines and brightly-hued synthesizer leads. Looking From A Hilltop smuggles in a spiky machine rhythm from Kraftwerk under billowing layers of keyboards. Other aspects of the song now seem prescient: In Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix), a minimally reworked single version of the album cut, a squelchy, resonant bassline lies wriggling deep in the mix. A year later, Chicago's disco scene would be reborn as acid house thanks to this technique's telltale squirm." (Pitchfork)

“So ahead of the game that no-one knew how to play it" (Record Collector)

“Looking From A Hilltop is all forward motion. At 8 minutes, the Megamix isn’t a second too long. All the elements are subordinate to the irresistible Moroder-esque modulations, which give a framework over which the group and the remixers pour backwards synths, wailing rock guitar, and all manner of ambient routines. With this epic – one of the best tracks from a  great year for electro - - Section 25 finally achieved the grandeur they had always sought.” (Jon Savage)

3xLP tracklist:

Disc 1:

A1. The Process
A2. Looking From A Hilltop
A3. Reflection
A4. Prepare To Live
B1. Program For Light
B2. Desert
B3. Beneath the Blade
B4. Inspiration

Disc 2:

C1. Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix)
C2. Another Hilltop (Stephen Morris Remix)
D1. Crazy Wisdom
D2. Dirty Disco II
D3. The Guitar Waltz
D4. Bad News Week

Disc 3:

E1. Beating Heart (12” Remix)
E2. Back to Wonder
E3. Sakura
E4. Slinky
F1. Looking From A Hilltop (1984 BBC session)
F2. Reflection (1984 BBC session)
F3. Warhead (1984 BBC session)
F4. Program For Light (Outernationale Mix)